Getting To Know: Apple Valley Golf Course By Brian Weis

Getting To Know: Apple Valley Golf Course

An Insightful Interview With Mark Mickley, General Manager

By Brian Weis

Whether you have played a course 20+ times a year or looking to play the course for the first time, insights from an insider can help enhance your golf experience. Below is an interview with Mark Mickley who shares some valuable tidbits about the course, memorable holes and must eats and treats at the 19th.

Give Our Readers An Overview of the Golf Course/Property
If you're looking to play golf on an unforgettable course, then grab your clubs and make a stop at the Apple Valley Golf Course, located about 7 miles east of Mount Vernon on State Route 36. This beautiful, championship golf course opened in 1972 and has hosted some of the most prestigious golf tournaments in Ohio as well as the NCAA National Championship.

Apple Valley has a reputation for having some of the finest, smoothest, fastest greens around and the layout is playable for golfers of all ages and abilities.

Large, open greens encourage chances for birdies but you'll have to step up with your A game when you pass through our 'Amen Corner' of holes 8-11. Tree-lined fairways, elevation changes and a ball-catching pond in front of #11 make this part of the course our toughest stretch.

The overall condition of the course is always top notch and Golf Digest has given Apple Valley its prestigious 4-Star Rating. Google reviewers rate Apple Valley a 4.7 out of 5.

The golf and good times are always memorable at Apple Valley.

If Someone Was Looking To Golf In The Area, Why Should They Play Your Course?
Apple Valley is without peer as the best-conditioned course in Knox County of central Ohio. It's also a course that doesn't 'beat you up' with forced carries, crooked stances or drastic elevation changes. Players can run shots onto most greens with generous openings and the bunkers are flat-bottomed and not deep so shots can be played out of them without disastrous results. Overall, Apple Valley is considered just a fun course to play.

What Tips or Local Knowledge Would You Provide To Help Them Score Better At Your Course?
The greens at Apple Valley are normally very smooth and very slick with gentle breaks that most people over read. The Pro Advice for putting at Apple Valley is take half of what you read and play that.

Any recent changes to the golf course? Or any upcoming changes?
New forward tees have been recently constructed for the ladies and senior players to make Apple Valley even more fun to play at the yardage that suits your game.

Recent Awards or What You Are Most Proud About The Course?
Apple Valley is family owned by the three Mickley brothers - Mark, Pat and Pete - who've been in the golf business for almost 40 years and they take personal pride in making sure every part of the operation provides a first-class experience. The fact that Apple Valley has hosted many prestigious state, college and high school tournaments demonstrates how respected it is as a tournament venue.

What Is The Signature, Most Talked About, or Most Photographed Hole?
The short par 3 fifth hole is the most beautiful and talked about hole on the course. It was voted central Ohio's favorite par 3 by reader's of the Ohio Golfer's Guide and even though it plays at only 140 yards, it's a nerve-wracking downhill shot over a pond with the green fronted by huge sand stones and surrounded by towering white pine trees.

What Is Your Favorite Hole? Any Tips to Play It?
The short par four eleventh hole, at only 326 yards, is so much fun and so scary at the same time. The tee shot must be carefully place within a tree-lined fairway. Then the second shot must be precisely hit to an angled green fronted by water. Anything short is down the bank and into the pond. Anything long is bunkered with the trap shot going straight downhill again toward the water. Bombers can attempt to drive the green but the shot requires serious carry and distance. Number eleven is one of those holes that should be a birdie chance, based on its distance, but usually is a round destroyer or a hole you're just happy to make par and walk away. One of the best short par fours in Ohio.

Must Have Dish or Drink after the round at the 19th Hole?
Apple Valley's grill room serves many sandwiches, beer, liquor and soft drinks to totally satisfy any golfer who needs to refuel after another fun round.

For the traveling golfer, do you have lodging onsite or partner with any area hotels?
Apple Valley is one of the rare courses in Ohio that has on-site condo lodging for stay and play groups. We have partnered with The Pines Condos and no place is more convenient. Golfers can park their at their condo, walk the pitching-wedge distance to the first tee, and never have to get back in their car until they leave. The course serves full, hot, cooked-from-scratch breakfast first thing in the morning and the snack bar is open all day for sandwiches. Email us at info@applevalleygolfcourse.com for custom stay and play packages or see our stay and play page on the website www.applevalleygolfcourse.com.

Who Holds Course Record and What Was Their Score?
Tim 'TT' Crouch, a local player from Mount Vernon, holds the member's course record with a fantastic score of 60! TT is a former national champion at Florida Southern and is currently working hard to try to make it on the PGA Tour.

Back Tee Stats
Par: 72
Yardage: 6946
Slope: 128
Rating: 73.1

More Information
Apple Valley Golf Course
433 Clubhouse Drive
Howard, OH, 43028
740-397-7664

www.applevalleygolfcourse.com

Revised: 07/14/2020 - Article Viewed 11,174 Times - View Course Profile

About: Brian Weis

Brian Weis is the mastermind behind GolfTrips.com, a vast network of golf travel and directory sites covering everything from the rolling fairways of Wisconsin to the sunbaked desert layouts of Arizona. If there’s a golf destination worth visiting, chances are, Brian has written about it, played it, or at the very least, found a way to justify a "business trip" there.

As a card-carrying member of the Golf Writers Association of America (GWAA), International Network of Golf (ING), Golf Travel Writers of America (GTWA), International Golf Travel Writers Association (IGTWA), and The Society of Hickory Golfers (SoHG), Brian has the credentials to prove that talking about golf is his full-time job. In 2016, his peers even handed him The Shaheen Cup, a prestigious award in golf travel writing—essentially the Masters green jacket for guys who don’t hit the range but still know where the best 19th holes are.

Brian’s love for golf goes way back. As a kid, he competed in junior and high school golf, only to realize that his dreams of a college golf scholarship had about the same odds as a 30-handicap making a hole-in-one. Instead, he took the more practical route—working on the West Bend Country Club grounds crew to fund his University of Wisconsin education. Little did he know that mowing greens and fixing divots would one day lead to a career writing about the best courses on the planet.

In 2004, Brian turned his golf passion into a business, launching GolfWisconsin.com. Three years later, he expanded his vision, and GolfTrips.com was born—a one-stop shop for golf travel junkies looking for their next tee time. Today, his empire spans all 50 states, and 20+ international destinations.

On the course, Brian is a weekend warrior who oscillates between a 5 and 9 handicap, depending on how much he's been traveling (or how generous he’s feeling with his scorecard). His signature move" A high, soft fade that his playing partners affectionately (or not-so-affectionately) call "The Weis Slice." But when he catches one clean, his 300+ yard drives remind everyone that while he may write about golf for a living, he can still send a ball into the next zip code with the best of them.

Whether he’s hunting down the best public courses, digging up hidden gems, or simply outdriving his buddies, Brian Weis is living proof that golf is more than a game—it’s a way of life.